Many container designs are known for holding various items, such as liquid and solid particulate consumer or commercial goods. For example, a typical round jug-like container for holding bleach is clearly distinct from a generally rectilinear box for containing apple juice. Depending on the size and shape of the container, it can be difficult for a user to lift or control the movement of the container, especially when the container is filled. To this end, it can be difficult for a user to obtain a reliable grip on the round portion of a container for holding bleach in the example above. Moreover, containers such as rectilinear boxes fill space efficiently when a plurality of the containers are put in abutting relation on a shelf or other storage device, but this close abutting relation can make it highly difficult for a user to obtain a good initial grip on one of the containers to remove it from the shelf or storage device. In addition, product labels on the container may be damaged by rubbing against adjacent containers when stored on a shelf or other surface.
As a result, container manufacturers have conventionally added features to the known container designs to help make lifting and controlling movement of the container easier. In one well-understood example, one or more handles are affixed to the exterior surface of the container in order to permit grasping of the container. However, the inclusion of such handles adds complexity and cost to the manufacturing process, and these handles may also negatively affect the overall appearance of the container or make it difficult to apply product labels to the container. Separately added handles may also have a tendency to break off in certain extreme operating conditions, which can be potentially harmful to users of the containers.
In the laboratory and scientific fields, product containers may be used to hold liquid or dry chemicals, including some hazardous materials. The product label on such containers contains vital information that distinguishes the contents of that container from other containers while also giving warnings about any hazards associated with the chemicals stored therein. The typical round bottle used in these circumstances suffers from the problems above and also makes it difficult to orient the product labels so that each container and the chemicals therein can be identified before moving the containers off of a shelf. Furthermore, users are typically holding and moving these chemical containers with gloved hands, and it can be exceedingly difficult to obtain a reliable grip on the container (especially round containers) when wearing gloves.
Accordingly, there remains a need in the art for a container that overcomes the disadvantages with conventional containers identified above.